Concrete bucket



y 19, 1955 L. H. GARLINGHOUSE 2,713,507

CONCRETE BUCKET Filed Oct. 4, 1948 IN VEN TOR: L ESL IE H. GARL INGHOUSE BYHW,

A T TORNEVS,

United States Patent M CONCRETE BUCKET Leslie H. Garlinghouse, Pasadena, Calif., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Garlinghouse Brothers, .Los Angeles, Caliirl, a co-partnership, consisting of Albert F. Garlinghouse, Charles H. Jeffries, Roland N. Armls)trong, Leslie H. Garlinghouse, Jr., and Walter F.

exter Application October 4, 1948, Serial No. 52,712

6 Claims. (Cl. 294-69) The invention relates to containers for holding and releasing material and is particularly well suited to devices adapted to the placing and pouring of concrete wherein the'concrete is placed in individual hoppers or buckets one batch at a time and lifted to a position above the forms where all or any part of the contents of the bucket may be dumped into the forms under very careful control so that the forms will not be overloaded.

The mixing, placing and pouring of concrete of all kinds has presented many engineering problems in the past and where concrete is to be poured in large quantities on heavy construction jobs and also where the pouring of concrete must be done with extreme care, these problems have been intensified. On construction projects where forms are to be filled one expedient resorted to has been the provision of a bucket container or hopper of portable character. A frequent expedient is to place the container for concrete near the mixer, load it from the mixer, lift it by means of a crane to a position above the forms and then to open a suitable gate in the container to permit the concrete to flow gradually into the forms so thatit can be tamped, agitated or vibrated and thereby be made to thoroughly fill in around the reinforcing steel and into all corners of the forms.

When concrete was first used for filling forms in this manner the practice was to make the mix relatively Wet under whichcircumstances the wet concrete mix could be run from the container without serious difficulty. As a result of much testing over periods of time long enough so that test results can be depended upon it has been found that better concrete is achieved when the concrete is mixed and" poured with lesser quantities of water than were originally used. The tendency toward drier concrete has prevailed for some time but with the advent of greater skill in the pouring, placing and form work drier mixes than any of those made heretofore have become more prevalent. This has finally reached the stage where buckets, containers and hoppers of the sort heretofore successfully used in the placing and pouring of concrete have become inadequate. This is for the reason that very dry mixesdo 'not flow readily from the container and a small residue left each time becomes accumulated, hardens in the container and adds greatly to the difficulties of the actual pouring operations. Compliance with certain-specifications for very dry mixes have even resulted in batches of mixed concrete so dry and heavy as to actually'jam in the container to the extent that unless prodded or agitated the mix refuses to flow from the gates. To overcome these difliculties modifications in bucket design have been inevitable.

Other materials normally retained in storage bins and other containers also are resistant to pouring and dumping, as for example, dry cement or asphalt macadam. Accordingly a device for preventing the jamming of almost anymaterial needing to be poured would fill a long felt need. v

It is therefore among the objects of the invention to provide a new and imp roved mate rial holder which is 2,713,507 Patented July 19, 1955 too particularly well adapted to the dumping or pouring of material resistant to ready flow under the influence of gravity.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved bucket, hopper or container for the handling of very dry concrete mixes which is adapted to pass concrete from the bottom of the bucket at virtually any rate of flow so that precise quantities may be dropped therefrom without the ditficulties usually experienced when especially dry mixes are handled.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved concrete bucket particularly well adapted to the pouring of dry concrete mixeswherein the bucket design is modified in that portion adjacent the gates so that there will be a free flow of dry concrete from the bucket no matter how wide or how narrow the opening may be at the gate.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved concrete bucket, hopper or container especially well adapted to the handling of dry concrete mixes which is so constructed that it will clean itself of the contents each time a batch is poured therefrom.

Still further objects include the provision of a concrete bucket for dry concrete mixes equipped with a specially constructed discharge portion accommodating clamshell gates constructed in a manner which permits the gates to open and close with particular effectiveness, thereby facilitating a very careful control over the quantity of concrete dumped therefrom even though the concrete may be too dry to flow through channels of conventional construction.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter set forth; pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of the device partially in section showing the bucket with gates in closed position.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1. I

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a top view of the bucket.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing a modified form of outlet and gate.

In the embodiment chosen to illustrate the invention there is shown what will herein be designated as a com crete bucket equipped so that it can be supported in upright position upon the ground or other supporting surface while being filled from a concrete mixer and thereafter be lifted by means of a sling and crane to any position above a set of concrete forms so that in that position the bucket can be lowered upon the forms if need be or suspended thereabove and when in pouring position the gates at the bottom of the bucket open partly or fully so that the concrete in the bucket may fall from the bottom of the bucket into proper position in the forms.

As illustrated in the drawings the structure includes a 2 frame consisting of a ring 10 at the bottom, a cylindrical body 11 adjacent the top and portions which maybe designated as legs 12 joining the ring 10 with the body 11. The body may be provided with annular channel members 13 and 14 for the purpose of stiffening and strengthening the structure. Plates 15 provided with holes 16 may be bolted or otherwise fastened to the annular channel 14 and used for attachment to a sling for the purpose of lifting the bucket.

, Within the frame there is mounted a hopper 20 suspended by means of channels 21 from the annular ring 14. A form of hopper found particularly suitable to achieve the objects of the invention includes a hopper usually round in shape at the upper end as best illustrated in Figure 4. Opposing flat wall portions 22 and 23 form what may for the purpose of description be designated as end walls, and opposing flat wall portions 24 and 25 form what may be designated as side walls, the portions 22, 23, 24 and 25 being more particularly the walls forming the upper portion of the hopper. Because of the fact that opening 26 is rectangular in cross-section rather than square, the pitch of the walls 22 and 23 will be slightly steeper than the pitch of the walls 24 and 25. It is also important to note that the walls 22 and 23 are joined respectively to the walls 24 and 25 by curved portions 27 which join the fiat portions along a line of tangcncy and produce a smooth curve around the corners greatly facilitating the flow of concrete mix from the hopper.

The lower portion of the hopper which forms a very substantial proportion of the overall height of the hopper is so constructed that the cross sectional area gradually increases from a point adjoining the bottom of the upper portion to an outlet opening 28. A comparison of Figures 3 and 4, for example, will be suflicient to indicate that the outlet opening 28 is greater in area than the rectangular opening 26. An effective design has also been found to be one wherein the outwardly diverging sides of the lower portion of the hopper have a height greater than one-half the width or greatest dimension of the outlet opening.

It will be apparent that the opening 28 may be made greater in area than the rectangular opening 26 by increasing either the width, the length or both of the opening 28 with respect to the rectangular opening 26. As here illustrated both the length and the width have been increased.

30 and 31 or slightly greater as a matter of convenience in construction. The lower portion of the hopper is preferably reinforced by use of channels 35 and 36 which may be welded to the outside surfaces of the lower wall por- I tions and also by angle bars 37 and 38 srmnarly Weldec to compact m the small end of an average bucket to the to the lower wall portion adjacent the outlet opening 28.

For opening and closing the outlet opening there is provided a pair of clamshell gates. These gates may be similar in construction and operation to the clamshell gate described in detail in applicants previous Patent No. 2,246,354.

Briefly the clamshell gates comprise curved or arcuate plates 40 and 41 having, respectively, arms 42 and 43 pivoted upon axes 44 and 45. At the upper ends of the arms are provided segmental gears 46 and 47 intermeshing so that when one gate is moved the other gate moves simultaneously a similar amount. A spring 48 may be employed for returning the gates to closed position after the gates have been open. These springs also hold the gate plates together and make certain that the gates are completely closed against possible leak of grout even though there may be a substantial amount of freedom and play in the fit of the gears 46 and 47.

Power for opening the gates may be supplied by a fluid operated ram comprising a cylinder 50 pivotally secured by means of brackets 51 and 52 to a beam 53 mounted upon the annular ring 13. A piston rod 54 extending from the cylinder 50 is pivotally attached by means of a pin 55 to a bracket forming part of the plate 41. Manual operation may, however, be substituted for the fluid operated ram.

As illustrated in greater detail in Figure 2 the arms 42 and 43 are supported in vertical swinging position not only by the channels 36 on the inside but also by channels 36 on the outside, a bolt or pin 57 forming the means of pivotal attachment.

An alternative type of outlet and appropriate gate is illustrated in Figure 5. As there shown a hopper 20 is located above a flange 32 and below the flange side walls 30 and 31' continue extending inwardly following in general the inward slope of the corresponding walls of the hopper. An end wall 33, visible in Figure 5, extends outwardly in the same manner as the wall 33 of Figure 2.

- The wall at the opposite end is disposed in a similar manner, as exemplified by the wall 34 in Figure 2.

In the view shown in Figure 5, a single gate 60 is illustrated hung upon a pivot 61 and adapted to be shifted to open and closed positions by means of a handle 62.

In operation as heretofore suggested the bucket may be rested upon the ring 10 upon a suitable supporting surface near a concrete mixer and mixed concrete dumped into the hopper. It will be understood of course that the usual concrete mix is one consisting of more or less equivalent portions of sand and gravel and a suitable quantity of cement to which has been added a quantity of water sulficient to wet the mix. In point of fact a concrete mix ordinarily designated as a dry mix, that is to say, a mixture with only enough water to wet the ingredients, is one which flows with greater difficulty than either a wet mix or a mixture of the ingredients without any water at all.

When the concrete mix is dumped into the hopper with the gates closed, the mix will fill the hopper down to the gates and there will be a certain amount of packing in the lower portion of the hopper due to the weight of the material above. The bucket is then lifted to a position above the forms where it is desired to pour the concrete. Once in position the gates are opened, in the embodiment shown, by manipulation of the hydraulic ram.

Although at times it may be desirable to dump the entire contents of the hopper at one time, more frequently it is necessary to dump the contents slowly so that not too great a load of the concrete mix is poured in one place. For this reason it is necessary to open the gates only partially so that the contents do not dump too rapidly. In wet mixes the contents will flow regardless of the amount of opening of the gates. In extremely dry mixes, however, there is a tendency for the material of the concrete mix extent that no concrete will flow. It is supposed that one condition accounting for the lack of ready flow is the tendency of the sand, gravel and cement to arch above the opening under which circumstance only a small portion of the concrete from the very center of the opening falls out of the bucket, whereas the remaining concrete in the bucket above the opening is held in the bucket by the arch effect of the material immediately adjacent the openmg.

In the invention herein shown and described the special form of the lower portion of the hopper is a form one function of which is to break the effect of any arching at the narrowest portion of the hopper, namely, in the area of the rectangular opening 26. Because of the fact that the outlet opening 28 immediately adjacent the gates is greater in area than the rectangular opening 26, that quantity of concrete mix between the opening 26 and the opening 28 must fall free as soon as the gates are opened. This is true even when the gates are only cracked sulficiently to permit the coarsest aggregate to pass. There can be no compacting of the mix in the lower portion of the hopper sufiicient to prevent flow of the mix from that lower portion. Because of the fact that the mix in the lower portion must flow on account of the side slopes of the lower portion, ejection of the mix out of the lower portion will tend to pull the mix from the upper; portion and consequently break up any arching effect. Concrete mix from the upper portion will therefore immediately replace concrete ejected from the lower portion and the lower portion will remain full at all times or will remain in a condition wherein the mix is flowing therefrom at a rate depending upon the amount of opening of the gates.

In the embodiment illustrated because of the outward slope of the walls 33 and 34 of the lower portion of the hopper, the breaking up of any arching tendency always prevails even though the gates might be opened so little that the outward slope of the walls and 31 might be rendered ineffective to break up the arching. By reason of this construction even very small quantities of the mix may be poured or a very gradual flow assured. This is particularly necessary in many instances where substantial puddling or vibration must be engaged in to properly distribute the concrete in the forms or where only a small quantity of the mix need be added to the top of the form to completely fill it without danger of overloading the form or spilling extra concrete unnecessarily over the sides. When the gates are fully open there is a clear, free flow in the lower portion of the hopper which induces a corresponding free flow of even the driest mix in the upper portion of the hopper and assisted by the presence of rounded corners, the entire contents of the hopper will be cleaned out with the pouring of each successive batch.

Further, by reason of the unique construction of the lower portion of the hopper inducing as heretofore described a free and ready flow of dry mix from that portion, the gates may be closed or opened at will regardless of the amount of mix remaining in the hopper. The absence of sticking or jamming of the dry mix near the outlet opening 28 greatly facilitates manipulation of the gates to an opening wider or narrower as occasion may demand and makes possible a more careful control of the pouring of the concrete mix from the bucket.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A bottom opening bucket for placing batches of concrete mix under gravity flow therefrom comprising a hopper having upper portions wherein the walls slope inwardly uniformly and substantially throughout their height from an area of maximum cross-section at the top toward an area of minimum cross-section, a rectangular bottom delivery opening having straight parallel longitudinal edges and larger in area than the area of minimum cross-section and smaller in area than the area of maximum cross-section, oppositely disposed side wall portions at the ends of the longitudinal edges having an outward and downward slope from said area of minimum cross-section to said bottom delivery opening and having a height less than the height of the upper portions, a pair of laterally moving gates lying respectively adjacent said longitudinal edges adapted to close said delivery opening, inside curved faces on said gates being positioned in sliding relationship with bottom edges of the opposite side wall portions and adapted to be moved toward and away from each other for respectively closing and opening said delivery opening.

2. A bottom opening bucket for placing concrete mix under gravity flow comprising a hopper having an upper section with an inlet opening and comprising walls sloping downwardly and inwardly throughout their height from a round upper end to a rectangular lower end, a substantially rectangular outlet opening at the bottom of the hopper, oppositely opening gates extending from one end to another of said outlet opening, said hopper having a lower section in axial alignment with the upper section including wall portions at the sides and ends of said outlet opening sloping inwardly and upwardly from the lower edges of said opening and making a junction with the lowermost part of the upper section, the cross-sectional area of the hopper at said junction being less than the cross-sectional area of said inlet and outlet openings.

3 A bottomopenin-g bucket for placing aggregate ma-- terial under gravity flow comprising a hopper having an upper portion with an open top wherein the walls through-' cross-section and smaller in area than the area of the open top, none of said lower edges being so positioned as to lie within an area projected vertically downwardly from the area of minimum cross-section.

4. A bottom opening bucket for placing aggregate material under gravity flow comprising a hopper having an upper portion wherein the walls have level upper edges forming an open top and have a slope throughout the entire height thereof inwardly toward a rectangular area of minimum cross-section, said area being centrally disposed relative to the upper edges, a downwardly and outwardly expanding delivery portion of lesser height than the height of'the hopper comprising pairs of oppositely disposed walls having lower edges thereof defining a bottom delivery opening larger in area than the area of minimum cross-section and smaller in area than the area of the open top, none of said lower edges being so positioned as to lie within an area projected vertically downwardly from the area of minimum cross-section, one pair of oppositely disposed walls being pitched laterally outwardly and downwardly, and gate means adapted to close said delivery opening having ends thereof located adjacent said last identified pair of oppositely disposed walls.

5. A bottom opening bucket for placing fine aggregate material of relatively high specific gravity under gravity flow comprising a portable frame, a hopper in the frame having an upper portion wherein walls forming said upper portion have top edges forming an open top area and wherein the walls slope inwardly throughout substantially the entire height toward a rectangular area of minimum cross-section, said walls having a rounded contour between and tangent to adjacent flat sections of the hopper, a downwardly and outwardly expanding delivery portion of substantially lesser volume than the upper portion comprising integral continuous wall portions of lesser height than the height of the hopper, said wall portions comprising pairs of oppositely disposed walls having lower edges thereof defining a bottom delivery opening larger in area than the area of minimum cross-section and smaller in area than the top area, none of said lower edges being so positioned as to lie within an area projected vertically downwardly from the area of minimum crosssection, one pair of oppositely disposed walls being pitched laterally outwardly and downwardly and terminating in double arcuate lower edges joined at the mid-portion, the other pair of walls terminating in parallel lower edges, and a pair of center opening laterally moving gates adapted to close said delivery opening, said gates having ends thereof located adjacent said last-identified pair of up positely disposed walls and mid-portions lying adjacent and below the parallel lower edges.

6. A bottom opening bucket device for placing fine aggregate material of a relatively viscous character and high specific gravity under a gravity flow comprising a F hopper, including an upper portion having a round upper end, a rectangular concentric lower end of minimum crosssectional area and walls joining the round upper end with the rectangular lower end sloping continuously inward throughout the entire height, said walls comprising flat sections adjacent the lower end joined together by warped sections therebetween extending to the upper end, said hopper including a lower portion of lesser height than the upper portion, said lower portion being of rectangular cross-section throughout its height and in axial alignment with the upper portion, said lower portion comprising a References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 570,385 Denig Oct. 27, 1896 835,595 Bishop Nov. 13, 1906 886,344 Bissen May 5, 1908 8 Burleson June 2, 1914 Norbo June 23, 1914 Wiley Feb. 21, 1933 Kersting Sept. 15, 1936 Ray Oct. 25, 1938 Garlinghouse June 17, 1941 Smith Dec. 19, 1944 

